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Renault Espace
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The Renault Espace is a large MPV from French car-maker Renault. Generations 1-3 were sold under the Renault brand but manufactured by Matra. The current fourth generation model, which seats seven passengers, was designed and is built by Renault; the Renault Grand Espace is a long-wheelbase version with increased rear leg room and boot size.
The Espace is often credited as being the world's first MPV (a claim Renault themselves encourage).
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The Renault Espace is a large MPV from French car-maker Renault. Generations 1-3 were sold under the Renault brand but manufactured by Matra. The current fourth generation model, which seats seven passengers, was designed and is built by Renault; the Renault Grand Espace is a long-wheelbase version with increased rear leg room and boot size.
The Espace is often credited as being the world's first MPV (a claim Renault themselves encourage). Chrysler's van-like first generation minivans reached the market some months earlier however, and are undeniably responsible for popularising this vehicle type in North America. The Espace can fairly be credited as the first car to exhibit the highly re-configurable interiors and distinct styling which characterise the modern MPV
Espace I (1984-1991)
The Espace's design was originally conceived in the 1970s by the British designer, Fergus Pollock, (at around the same time as Giorgetto Giugiaro's 1978 Lancia Megagamma concept MPV), who was working for Chrysler UK (formerly the Rootes Group), at their design centre at Whitley, (now the Jaguar design centre) in Coventry . Later Matra, who were affiliated with Simca, the then French subsidiary of Chrysler, were involved in partnership in the design, spearheaded by Greek designer Antonis Volanis.
The Espace was originally intended to be sold as a Talbot, and to be a replacement for the Matra Rancho leisure activity vehicle. Early prototypes used Simca parts, and hence featured a grille reminiscent of the Simca 1307 (Chrysler Alpine).
In 1978, before the Espace went into production, Chrysler UK and Simca were sold to the French company PSA Peugeot Citroën (PSA), and the Espace design was given to Matra.
PSA decided the Espace was too expensive and too risky a design to put into production, and Matra took their idea to Renault (PSA finally ventured into the minivan sector eleven years later with the Citroën Evasion/Peugeot 806).
The Matra concept became the Renault Espace. The design featured a fiberglass body mounted on a warm-galvanized steel chassis, using the same technique and assembly line at the factory as the Talbot Matra Murena. In fact, the introduction of the Espace required the relatively small factory to cease the production of the Murena, to make room for the Espace.
The Espace was launched by Renault in 1984. After a very slow start — a grand total of nine Espaces were sold in the first month after launch — customers warmed to the benefits of the MPV concept and the Espace became very popular.
Espace I - Phase 2
Building upon its success, the Espace was revamped in 1988 with most of the Talbot/Simca content being replaced by equivalent Renault parts (the chassis and mechanical components of the car remained largely unchanged). The most obvious cosmetic exterior difference between the very first Espaces and the revamped post-1988 models were the changed headlights: the forward-slanting lights with orange indicator casing of the original Espace were replaced with backward-slanting lights with a clear indicator casing.
Espace II (1991-1997)
A heavily revised Espace was launched in 1991, adopting the Renault family look to replace the Talbot-themed styling of the original. This was essentially a re-skin of the original car, with a new dashboard and other interior improvements. The chassis was essentially unchanged.
Espace III (1997-2003)
The third generation of the Espace arrived in 1997, its most notable feature being the radical futuristic interior (with a centrally-mounted digital speedometer). A number of third generation Espaces were used as bases for NGV and taxi conversions for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the Kuala Lumpur Sentral transportation hub in Malaysia, rebranded as Enviro 2000s.
The third-generation Espace was the last to be built by Matra; following an end to production for Renault, Matra and MG Rover negotiated over a possible deal for the latter to build and market Espaces but this never came to fruition.
Espace IV (2003-present)
The fourth-generation Espace arrived in 2003 and was the first Espace designed and built entirely by Renault. The new vehicle was also the first all-steel Espace.
Its styling was reflective of a new design direction at Renault, symbolised by the radical Vel Satis and Avantime models, marking a major departure from the previous model, which also saw the range moved upmarket.
The fourth-generation Espace came last in the Top Gear Satisfaction Survey 2005.
Espace F1
In 1995, Renault displayed a show car called the Espace F1 (created by Matra) to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Espace and Renault's involvement in Formula One racing. It was based on a V10-powered Williams Formula 1 racing car with an Espace J63 body reinforced with lightweight carbon-fibre instead of the glass fibre of the standard model. The Renault-Williams engine powered it from in 6 seconds, and helped by the carbon-ceramic brakes, it did and back to 0 in under . This version of the Espace was featured in the driving simulator, Gran Turismo 2.
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